6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: Jake Paul’s startup raises millions, plus news from UKG, Analytic Partners, Endeavor Miami; FAU and more, plus who’s hiring
1
Jake Paul’s body care startup raises $11M Series A
W, the Miami-based-personal body care brand co-founded by boxer and YouTube personality Jake Paul, plans to expand beyond its original retail home of Walmart after raising nearly $11 million in a Series A funding round, valuing the new company at $150 million.
Venture-capital firm Shrug Capital led the round, which also included Miami-based 305 Ventures and Palm Tree Capital, as well as Range Group, Uphonest Capital, Quiet Capital, tennis player Naomi Osaka and entrepreneur and DJ Paris Hilton.
W’s total funding to date amounts to $14 million, the company said.
Paul also personally invested in W – whose name is a nod to winning — along with partner and co-founder Geoffrey Woo. The company’s other co-founder, Woodie Hillyard, is its CEO. W is on track to hit north of $50 million in sales by the end of its first year, its press release said.
The line of men’s deodorants, sprays and washes aims to elbow its way into a category still dominated by decades-old, conglomerate-owned brands such as Unilever’s Axe and Procter & Gamble’s Old Spice, Paul told the Wall Street Journal. It is also part of a new wave of products breaking into the consumer-packaged-goods industry via doors opened by internet-famous founders. Paul of course is also the co-founder of Miami-based sports betting startup Betr.
Said Paul: “Everything W does is different — from driving record sales in under a month to our forward-thinking approach to creator partnerships. Our funding to date reflects our investors’ confidence in the immense opportunity we have to build a new type of legacy brand in unique and unexpected ways.”
2
Analytic Partners makes acquisition
Analytic Partners, a Miami-based commercial analytics company, is to acquire Magic Numbers, a marketing analytics firm based in London. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The strategic acquisition of Magic Numbers accelerates Analytic Partners’ drive to expand its leadership in commercial analytics and to penetrate deeper in the UK and EMEA markets. As part of Analytic Partners, Magic Numbers will be able to further improve its offerings and benefit from Analytic Partners’ scale, technology platforms and global presence.
Led by President and CEO Nancy Smith, Analytic Partners is a leader in Commercial Analytics, providing adaptive solutions for deeper business understanding and right-time planning and optimization – for marketing and beyond. The acquisition of Magic Numbers follows Analytic Partners’ sustained traction in the last 12 months, which includes opening a Dallas office and recent senior executive hires.
3
UKG names Blackstone exec as CEO
UKG, a leading provider of HR, payroll, workforce management and culture solutions, announced that enterprise software industry leader Jennifer Morgan has been appointed chief executive officer of UKG. Morgan succeeds Chris Todd, who has served as CEO since 2022 and is stepping down after 17 years with the company.
“Her industry insight and understanding of our customers coupled with her strategic vision and people-focused leadership will propel the company forward as we build on UKG’s success delivering essential HCM solutions and enter the next level of rapid growth and scale,” said Aron Ain, executive chair of the Board of Directors.
Morgan formerly served as Co-Chief Executive Officer of SAP, becoming the first female CEO of a company on the DAX index, and was a member of the company’s executive board from 2017 to 2020. Throughout her more than 16-year tenure at SAP, she oversaw many of its most impactful strategic growth initiatives. Most recently, she served as Global Head of Portfolio Operations at Blackstone, where she led a team of operators and partnered with CEOs and leadership teams to help accelerate growth and create value for the firm’s portfolio companies.
Blackstone is a significant investor in UKG, and Morgan has also been a member of the UKG Board of Directors since 2021.
4
Endeavor Miami a partner in new LatAm funding network
Endeavor Miami announced that the organization is involved in the launch of the Americas Partnership Investor Network, an initiative backed by an initial anchor investor pledge of more than $1 billion to empower the region’s Latin American and Caribbean founders. Recently unveiled at the White House, the partnership aims to bridge funding gaps and drive economic growth across the Western Hemisphere.
“With the leadership of our partners IDB Lab and Uruguay Innovation Hub, the support of all the investors in this new network, and leveraging our extensive network and expertise, we believe we can unlock the full potential of innovative entrepreneurs in the region and drive meaningful change,” Endeavor Miami shared in a LinkedIn post.
Uruguay Innovation Hub with support of Endeavor Miami will facilitate connections between investors and Latin American founders and companies and ensure that startups receive not only the necessary access to funding but also the strategic advice and mentorship required to scale their businesses successfully.
“Endeavor Miami is proud to be a part of this groundbreaking effort to bridge the funding gap and support the next generation of high-impact entrepreneurs in the region,” said Claudia Duran, Regional Managing Director for North America and of Endeavor Miami. “It’s essential to work together to mobilize more early-stage investments in deep tech, climate tech, and biotech startups offering solutions to Latin America and the Caribbean’s biggest challenges,” added Irene Arias, CEO of IDB Lab.
5
FAU professor wins grant to reimage cancer care with tech
While chemotherapy has advanced in personalization, personalized radiation therapy for cancer remains underdeveloped. Medical image analysis and machine learning hold great promise for enhancing personalized oncology. However, challenges persist such as limited high-quality data and data complexity.
Wazir Mugammad, Ph.D., principal investigator and an assistant professor in the Department of Physics within Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, has received a $701,000 grant from Precess Medical Derivatives, a company that specializes in providing an array of medical physics services and designing and developing software applications, for a project that aims to revolutionize cancer treatment by making it more personalized and effective.
The project, “Deciphering Digital Twins of Cancer Patients for Personalized Treatments,” uses artificial intelligence, in particular, deep reinforcement learning (DRL), to analyze multimodal data, and enhance cancer characterization and treatment to ultimately improve patient outcomes. The project will help to address the challenges of data quality, complexity and integration into clinical workflows.
“Using personal health data, genetic information about the tumor, and patient treatment and follow-up data, digital twins will simulate diagnoses and treatment options to help physicians choose the most effective treatments and monitor responses over time,” said Muhammad. Read more here.
6
Jobs, jobs, jobs
Here are a #MiamiTech openings few you’ll find on Refresh Miami’s job board:
Find hundreds of more jobs here.
PLUS
Opportunity knocks
- Endeavor Miami is accepting applications for its fall EndeavorLAB Cohort for early-stage female founders. The two-month accelerator program is free to founders, thanks to the support of JPMorgan Chase, and concludes with a DemoDay event. Applications are also open now through Aug. 10 here. Endeavor Miami is also accepting applications for its next ScaleUp Program. Apply for ScaleUp here.
- The Miami Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is offering $1.1 million in incentives to attract businesses seeking to move to or expand their operations to Downtown Miami’s Central Business District, Arts & Entertainment District or Brickell. The program offers grants up to $25,000 per business for startups, and is flexible to allow businesses to either operate out of a co-working space or lease their own dedicated office space. Grants up to $50,000 are available for mid-size businesses and ground floor retail operators moving into downtown. Learn more here.
- As part of its 100 Startup Project Scholarship Program, The Levan Center of Innovation is offering 10 entrepreneurs a one-year membership to the Levan Center of Innovation, thanks to the support of Memorial Healthcare System. Apply here.
ICYMI
- Igloo breaks the ice, securing $11M+ round led by Founders Fund to build consumer-facing blockchain
- IntelePeer’s $140 million leap: AI automation poised to revolutionize customer service
- Advanced robotics startup NAVIGANTIS secures $12M to pioneer a new chapter for stroke care
- Inforge is building a bridge between LatAm and the U.S., with Salesforce at the core
- CourMed, a private client health and wellness startup, rides a healthy growth trajectory
- Kitchen Robotics’ journey from garage to gourmet, revolutionizing ‘faster’ food along the way
- Seaweed solutions: Algas Organics is turning this coastal problem into a business opportunity
- 6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: News from Snowpoint Ventures, Bling Capital, Research Park at FAU, Storybook App, Arkhaus, Moonshot Awards & more
- 6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: Jake Paul’s startup raises millions, plus news from UKG, Analytic Partners, Endeavor Miami; FAU and more, plus who’s hiring – July 29, 2024
- 6+ things to know in #MiamiTech: News from Snowpoint Ventures, Bling Capital, Research Park at FAU, Storybook App, Arkhaus, Moonshot Awards & more – July 23, 2024
- Paws up if you like this news: Ani.VC launches $35M early-stage venture fund for pet startups – July 19, 2024
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